Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A Good ‘Malayan Emergency’ G.M., Hong Kong Police C.P.M. group of seven awarded to Superintendent of Police I. P. Hyde, Federation of Malaya Police, later Royal Hong Kong Police, who was awarded the George Medal for deactivating a live enemy grenade with its pin withdrawn whilst in hand-to-hand combat with a communist bandit during a jungle patrol in Penang, thus saving the lives of his patrol

George Medal, G.VI.R., 2nd issue (Ian P. Hyde); Defence and War Medals 1939-45; General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Malaya, G.VI.R. (847 P/Lieut. I. P. Hyde G.M. Malaya Police); Colonial Police Medal, E.II.R., 2nd issue, for Meritorious Service (Ian Peter Hyde Supt. of Police Royal Hong Kong Police); Coronation 1953; Colonial Police Long Service Medal, E.II.R., 2nd issue (Superintendent I. R Hyde Hong Kong) mounted for display in a glazed frame together with a photograph of the recipient receiving his George Medal and his Federation of Malay Police and Royal Hong Kong Police cap badges, lacquered, minor edge bruise to fourth, good very fine (7) £4000-5000

G.M. London Gazette 29 July 1952:

‘Police Lieutenant Hyde was leading a jungle squad patrol on the Badak Mati Hills in Province Wellesley when he encountered three armed bandits in a jungle clearing. The Lieutenant immediately opened fire with his carbine, killing one bandit outright and wounding the other two while they were running away. The patrol went in pursuit of the two bandits and the Lieutenant, who was in the lead, saw one of the wounded bandits lying on the ground with a grenade in his hand, which he was about to throw at the patrol after having withdrawn the pin. With great presence of mind and complete disregard of his personal safety, Hyde threw himself on the man, closing his hand over that of the bandit, thus preventing the lever of the grenade from flying off. With his free hand he then unscrewed the base plug and removed the detonator and rendered the grenade harmless. By his actions throughout the short engagement, Police Lieutenant Hyde set an outstanding example to his men and displayed cool, calculated courage.’

Ian Peter Hyde was born on 25 August 1927, the youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. D. S. Hyde of Walsall, Staffordshire, and served during the final months of the Second World War in the Royal Marines. He joined the Federation of Malaya Police as a Lieutenant on 21 June 1951, and proceeded to Penang, where he soon found himself involved in the Malayan Emergency. Police Lieutenants were especially recruited from among British service personnel to lead jungle squads used for flushing out communist guerrilla forces in the jungle. It was a difficult and hard job and policing at its worst. However, for someone who had just finished in the Royal Marines and who was looking for further employment, the task suited Hyde perfectly. Appointed Second in Command of the Sungei Bakap Jungle Company, he was leading an eight-man jungle squad patrol in the Badak Mati Hills in Province Wellesley, Penang, on the occasion of his gallant action on 12 April 1952, where he saved his patrol from being wiped out (see citation), and for his gallantry was awarded the George Medal. On another occasion he and his party found the first Communist dugout of reinforced concrete in the jungle, 600 feet up on a hill in Pulau Batu Kawan, Province Wellesley: ‘We travelled for 45 minutes by motor launch and trekked through thick virgin jungle for nearly two hours. We found tracks of two men and a woman leading into the jungle. But after trailing them for some 150 yards, we lost the footprints in thick blukar. We broke into two parties and started scouring the hillside for the dugout. Mr. Kay led one party, whilst Lieutenant. I. P. Hyde led the other. Eventually we reached a tall “buah jering” tree- a landmark we had been told to look for. Suddenly a shot rang out. It was from Lieutenant Hyde- his party, having been four times previously around the area, had finally found the dugout. So well camouflaged was it that the police patrol would never have located it but for some tiger’s pug marks. A huge boulder surrounded by thick undergrowth covered the entrance. The police had to drop feet first through a tunnel about four feet long to reach a room six feet by nine, with a roof sloping from four feet to two and a half feet high. The room was bare, except for two empty kerosene tins. It was pitch dark.’ (local newspaper account refers).

Hyde was invested with his George Medal by General Sir Gerald Templer, High Commissioner of the Federation of Malaya, at Kuala Lumpur on 19 December 1952. Following Malaya’s Independence, he joined the Royal Hong Kong Police in November 1957 as Inspector of Police, and served with great distinction for seventeen years before retiring in 1975, having been advanced to Superintendent of Police. His outstanding service in Hong Kong was recognised through the awards of the Governor’s Commendation in 1960, the Commissioner of Police’s Commendation in 1965, and the Colonial Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 1968. He died on 11 July 2012.

Sold with the recipient’s riband bar, cap badges, and shoulder titles; letters from the Colonial Office and No. 10 Downing Street to the recipient informing him of the award of the G.M.; original London Gazette supplement detailing the award; named Buckingham Palace enclosure for the Coronation Medal; the recipient's Government of the Federation of Malaya Certificate of Service and accompanying letter from the Commissioner of Police, Kuala Lumpur; various photographs; and the recipient’s scrapbook containing a number of newspaper cuttings and letters relating to the award and investiture of his G.M.

For the medals to the recipient’s father, Stoker Petty Officer D. S. Hyde, see Lot ***